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Thomas von Steinaecker: Wallner begins to fly (Wallner beginnt zu fliegen)
Novel
Hardcover | 380 pages | ISBN 9783627001407 | February 2007 | Frankfurter Verlagsanstalt
English excerpt
The book: "Wallner begins to fly" is a family saga spanning three generations, but also a novel about the question whether it is actually possible to tell the true story of one’s family. A captivating debut in three chapters: An economical novel, a musician’s life story and a young woman’s destiny written by one of the most promising debutants in German literature.
Stefan Wallner, married to the German-Rumanian Ana, has created a hearth and home for himself with his company for agricultural machinery. His professional success makes him forget his disastrous relationship with his father. However, as the company flourishes, merges with another company, goes public and as the years go by, the close relationship between Wallner and his employees starts to suffer. Wallner feels persecuted, he suspects a conspiracy.
His son Costin does not notice his father’s beginning paranoia. He zaps through his life and his roles like through a television series. He starts off a career as a superstar in a pop group which is casted in a television show, then follows alternative occupations as the speaker of Hitler in an animated cartoon and, in his role as an ex-pop star, he takes part in a reality show. He successfully creates his own rock label and lives with Romy, the singer of the group “Erich”. He does not find out about his illegitimate daughter Wendy until years have passed.
Wendy meets her father for the first time just before her 18th birthday. Till then, her mother had not told her anything about him. However, they hardly get to know each other before he suddenly dies. After Costin’s death, Wendy starts to reconstruct and record her family history – yet it proves very difficult to distinguish between life-long illusions, mistakes and reality.
"With his virtuosic debut Thomas von Steinaecker turns the novel of generations hand over feet in a very sophisticated way." Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
"A brilliant, entertaining and serious debut." Bücher
© Frankfurter Verlagsanstalt
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